New Gotham is a different city since the events of seven years ago. The Catwoman has been murdered by
one of the Jokers goons in front of her own daughter, Helena Kyle, and Barbara has been shot by The Joker as a final act to
possibly drive Batman mad. Batman/Bruce Wayne leave Gotham six months later.

Seven years later, a young woman, Dinah, has come to search for the two women in her dreams from seven years
ago. S he witnesses what appears to be a suicide when a man runs from the bus stop bench and gets hit by a truck. She
touches him before he dies and sees what he is running from in his mind. Meanwhile, Barbara Gordon is living in a clock
tower layer. The Jokers bullet has left her paralyzed. She is known as Oracle and she guides The Huntress (aka
Helena Kyle) in the battle against crime every night. Of course, Helena has anger management problems and is seeing
a therapist , Harleen Quinzeel. Helena is still trying to deal with her moms death and the father who left never knowing
she was his kid.

That night, The Huntress saves Dinah and Dinah touches her. Dinah sees where the clock tower lair
is and breeches the security there before Helena knocks her out. Barbara and Helena both want to send Dinah home, but
Dinah confirms Barbaras suspicions that some recent deaths arent suicides and it has something to do with the word phoenix.

BIRDS OF PREY has many things going for it. You have three likeable female leads who interact well with
each other as actors that you believe in their conflicts with others and each other.

The pilot shows that BIRDS OF PREY is a series with potential and the ending points to a villain in the shadows
that our three heroes will face sooner or later during the season. The pacing is good and I was left wanting more when
the fifty minutes were over. Some of the dialouge isnt good as it should be and I could do less with the alternative music
songs that pop up in the shows soundtrack. Gotham is a city that looks dark and dangerous like the Gotham shown in the
first two BATMAN movies.

The show has a potential to be more of a crime thriller than a show about heroes getting into fights which
is a good thing. BIRDS OF PREY isnt about endless fights that are tied together by other scenes that lead into another
fight. This is definitely one show I will watch.

this review is (c)2002 (August 2002) David Blackwell and this review can't be reprinted without the author's
permission.